Stifling defense and a large dose of teamwork led the Sting, a senior womens soccer team, to back-to-back city championships in the early 1980s.

Last week at the Ashman Court Hotel, teammates and friends celebrated their successful seasons and caught up on old times at their first major reunion.

While womens recreational sports have grown in popularity, in 1979, womens soccer  especially for those over 30  was unheard of in the area, said Quita Shier, former Midland Soccer Club board member and the Stings wall-like goalkeeper.

"We mothers would sit around and say, You know what, why dont we go out and get the exercise?" Shier said.

The new league didnt have to look far to fill its rosters, as most of the early womens leaguers already had ties to the Midland Soccer Club.

"There was a lot of interest because most of the women who played had children who played in the childrens division and husbands in the mens division," Shier said.

Four teams composed the league originally, with women from their late teens to their 40s.

Regional competition was nonexistent. There were no travel teams in nearby cities, Shier said.

"Womens soccer teams werent all that common," she said. "This far north, we were … trailblazers."

The league grew in popularity in the next few years and split in 1981, forming a sub-30 league and the senior league that included the Sting.

But the age split wasnt just for team size reasons. A younger team handed the Sting an 11-0 loss early in the leagues life, but even in the loss, some players found positives.

"We played smarter than those 20-year-olds," said Pam Jane, retired teacher and Edenville Township resident. "We needed a league of our own."

That first year the team took the city championship, but it was 1982 when the team gelled, Shier said.

Only five balls penetrated the Stings net that year and a swift kick by right halfback Maura Hemann, a Midland resident, gave the Sting their 1982 victory. Giving birth a scant six weeks before winning the championship didnt slow her down.

Hemann credits the growth of womens sports to Title IX, an educational amendment that forbade gender discrimination in sports. "When I went to school, there was basketball, volleyball and cheerleading," she said. "Now there are just tons of things."

Many of the Sting, and the women in the league, had little experience in organized sports. But that wasnt an issue for them.

Wanda Freeman, Midland resident, shares a Sting record for most goals with Sue Bradford Wise, currently of Tuscon, Ariz. Wise had never played an organized sport in her life.

But for members of the league, and the team, it was about more than winning. Many said they learned sportsmanship and had camaraderie from their time playing together.

"It was a bonding experience; we are good friends, we had a wonderful time together," said Shier.

"We were friends before we started playing soccer, and we became better friends," added Hemann.

Those who attended the reunion did also take away something tangible  a DVD of compiled game footage.